PATRICK STEWART is Professor Charles Xavier, the wheelchair-bound mentor of the X-Men, and the world's most powerful telepath.

Stewart is an internationally respected actor known for successfully bridging the gap between the theatrical world of the Shakespearean and modem stage, and that of film and television.

Stewart was last seen in TNT's A Christmas Carol. He recently earned a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for his portrayal of Ebenezer Scrooge, a role which continues a cherished association with Charles Dickens' classic that has included his noted one-man performance of the play on Broadway. Also for TNT is the upcoming Boss Lear, which Stewart co-produces with Robert
Halmi, Sr. Set in Texas during the Mexican revolt in the mid- 1 800s, Boss Lear is an updated version of Shakespeare's classic King Lear.

Stewart's recent film credits include his portrayal of Captain Picard in Star
Trek: Insurrection and as the voice of Pharaoh Seti in the animated film The Prince of Egypt.

The versatile actor was honored with Emmy® and Golden Globe award nominations for Best Actor in a Dramatic Series or Miniseries for his role as Captain Ahab in USA Network's Moby Dick, which also starred Gregory Peck and Henry Thomas.

On stage, Stewart currently stars on Broadway in Arthur Miller's Tony nominated play,
The Ride Down Mt. Morgan, in which he plays a bigamist who is visited by his two wives while he lies injured in a hospital after an automobile accident.

Previously, he received critical notice in the title role of Othello at the Shakespeare Theatre in Washington, D.C., a performance praised by The New York Times as "never anything less than uncanny in his psychological portrait; it's like watching an autopsy on human feeling."

In December of 1996, Stewart brought A Christmas Carol, his award-winning adaptation of Dickens' classic tale, to an exclusive engagement at the Doolittle Theatre. Stewart first performed this acclaimed one-man show for Broadway audiences in 1991. In 1995, this role, in which he played over 40 characters, earned him a Drama Desk Award for Best Solo Performer. This marked his first return to the New York stage since 1971, when he appeared in the now- legendary Peter Brook production of A Midsummer Night 's Dream. When Stewart presented A Christmas Carol at London's Old Vic Theatre, he received an Olivier Award nomination as Best Actor and the Olivier Award for Best Entertainment.

For television, Stewart originated the role of Captain Jean-Luc Picard in the hit series
Star Trek: The Next Generation, which aired from 1988 to 1994. That role earned him Best
Actor nominations from the American TV Awards and the Screen Actors Guild. In
addition to
his starring role, he also directed several episodes, including "A Fistful of
Datas," which won an
Emmy Award.

His other television credits include the title role of The Canterville Ghost for ABC and the Hallmark Hall of Fame, TNT's In Search of Dr. Seuss, and
Fox's animated series The Simpsons. He has also hosted several documentary series, including The Shape of the World on PBS, and TNT's MGM: When the Lion Roars, a six-part series on the history of
Metro-Goldwyn Mayer.

For the BBC, Stewart has been seen in the acclaimed miniseries I, Claudius, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and Smiley's People. He also portrayed Salieri in The Mozart Inquest, Oedipus in Oedipus Rex, and Reverend Anderson in The Devil's Disciple